Alaska Airlines Grounds 737 Max Jets After Fuselage Incident

Airline Temporarily Halts Flights of 65 Planes for Inspections

Federal Aviation Administration Lifts Ground Stop

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted a ground stop for all Alaska Airlines flights on Wednesday following an issue with the system that calculates weight and balance of aircraft. The issue has temporarily grounded a total of 197 Boeing planes worldwide, including Alaska Airlines' fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 planes.

The ground stop was initially imposed on Friday after an emergency landing of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in Portland, Oregon. The FAA has ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jets after part of one plane dramatically blew off during a flight.

Alaska Airlines has returned some of its grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 jets to service after one of the planes was inspected and cleared to fly. However, the airline is still conducting inspections on the rest of its fleet.